Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ 1 Samuel

[Fiddy]

What’s the significance of the threshing floor/threshold in scripture?

Reading through 1 Samuel right now. 1 Samuel 5:5 (NKJV) says -

Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

This passage is linked in my Bible app with Zephaniah 1:9 that says - In the same day I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

Is the threshold the same thing as the threshing floor? What’s the significance of these things in scripture because I know it comes up multiple times? Seems to be a metaphor for something or pointing to some sort of theological significance.

[jimwalton]

The threshold served two purposes: it provided a socket for the door hinge so the door could swing for opening and closing. Second, if they scattered thresh on the floor so they weren't walking in the dust and dirt in their home, the threshold kept that inside.

As far as 1 Sam. 5.5 & Zeph.1.9, entryways were often considered both sacred and vulnerable. Superstitious belief held that stepping on the threshold would allow demons that haunted the entryway to gain admission. This is perhaps the preferred explanation among the Philistines for Dagon’s troubles. Similar superstitions have continued in the Near East and the Far East from Syria to Iraq to China.

Threshing floors were different. They were large areas of dirt or stone that were usually out in the open so that the breezes could be used to blow away the chaff. They would generally be used by the whole community. Threshing is done mostly in June and July and is done with a stick or by walking cattle over the sheaves. The wheat, for instance, could be brought in there, threshed, letting the chaff blow away and making a convenient place to sweep up the wheat that remained.

Because of their association with agriculture and fertility, threshing floors are also sites for legal and cultic activity. In Ruth 3 we read that the threshing floor was the location for a legal contract. In the Bible, they were considered sacred spaces connected with YHWH. He appeared to people at threshing floors Judges 6.11-12). There is even one indication that Solomon's temple was built at a threshing floor (2 Chr. 3.1).

[Rogue One]

Fascinating. You have a real gift for sharing your knowledge.

Thanks